‘A true christian should pay tithe’

One man is not happy with the way Christians have handled the issue of tithe. He is Pastor Chris Ekejekwu of Obedience To God Assembly, Ikeja, Lagos. In this interview with CHRIS IREKAMBA, he bares his mind on tithing and what Christians should do.

What is your view on tithing?

I read the tithe issue very belatedly. A pastor in Ukraine was abusing the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye over his statement on the issue. I felt sad in the sense that, if he saw anything wrong, should he have gone to the newspapers to express his anger?

He could have sought his audience or send an email to the GO, rather than making it look like a big issue.

Malachi 3:10 says: ‘You should bring 10 per cent of everyhing you’ve made as profit,’ so that there will be something in God’s house.

Now, the most important thing about tithing is that you have actually surrendered yourself to God and ensure you are no longer living in sin.

Before tithe, God wants you to surrender yourself to Him.

Unfortunately, most people believe that because they go to church and give a lot of money to church, the heaven’s door is automatically open to them, but it is not like that.

My bone of contention is that though tithe should be paid, but who must pay the tithe?

A child of God; a believer, who obeys God’s word. Any person paying tithe but living in disobedience, his tithe is useless because God wants his soul.

Just like Abraham, for example, when God asked him to give his only son Isaac; he obeyed God and surrendered Isaac.

Again, it’s just like someone having 20 houses and God says, ‘I want these 20 houses.’ What do you do as a Christian? It is to surrender them to God because He owns your life.

So, for the churches, Christians and pastors debating over payment of tithe, it is ridiculing the church of the living God and its foundation.

It’s misdirecting people and making unbelievers, as well as occultic men and women to laugh at the church. Whatever a Christian has and God wants it, he/she will surrender it, irrespective of anything. So, how much less 10 per cent of your earnings.

When Christ wanted to go to somewhere, there was a horse. The owner wasn’t a Christian, but He commanded that they should tell him that the Master wanted to use it.

The man surrendered his horse. Christ saw the man’s heart. The emphasis should be: Let the people tithing surrender their lives truly to Christ. Having given your life to Christ, what to give to Him should not be a problem at all.

In that Malachi 3:10, the Bible says, ‘Can a man rob God…’ So as a Christian, you should not rob God, you should pay your tithe, which is nothing because people who understand God give more than 10 per cent.

There are people in the church who don’t have. So, I encourage Christians to pay their tithe, so that the church can survive.

The issue raised by these people is that church leaders do not use proceeds from tithe to help the needy. Rather, the money is squandered on private jets and reckless lifestyle…

But the Bible says do not judge, so that you too will not be judged. Is the person criticising men of God a member of the church for him to know whether church leaders are helping the needy or not?

They should leave that to the real Judge. What I’m saying is that they shouldn’t have gone to the public or newspapers to ridicule the name of Christ and His body.

You should know that the name of Christ must not be ridiculed, so that Satan will not use it against us.

If you are not a true Christian and you are paying tithe, you are bribering God, as tithe will not help you. God wants you to surrender your life to Him first.

You can’t bribe God. The Bible says, ‘who has requested those things from you?’ It is your soul that God wants, and after you’ve surrendered it, nobody will tell you the importance of giving or helping the church.

After you have surrendered your life; you can then pay your tithe. Somebody can buy a jet for a man of God, not necessarily that he used church money to buy such.

But do you think church leaders are really doing enough to take care of their members, especially the needy?

Do you know why I won’t answer that question? The Bible says, ‘if you don’t work, you should not eat.’ So, if you are in the church and you don’t want to work, you are on your own.

A lot of people are lazy, they don’t want to work. If you give them work, they will tell you it’s not work they are looking for. They are looking for money.